The basic definition of public assistance is using tax dollars to provide help for those in need. The government does not have one dollar to spend on anything that was not first earned by a hardworking Michigan taxpayer. It is vital, therefore, that those elected to manage the investments of that money do so responsibly.

Public assistance is not, nor should it ever be, considered an entitlement or permanent lifestyle. It should be a safety net and temporary hand up. Our goal should be to break the cycle of poverty, not perpetuate it.

Proposed legislation addresses the personal responsibility required to break the cycle of dependency. It is important to note these bills apply to only cash assistance that seeks to help with job readiness. They do not apply to help for food, health care or housing. This cash assistance comes from a neighbor’s hard work, and is intended to help improve lives, not maintain dependency.

Under the legislation, if you are suspected of having a problem with drugs, you may be tested. If the results are positive, you will be offered treatment paid for through public assistance. If you still cannot kick the illegal habit, you risk losing your cash payments. Using tax dollars on illegal drugs is not just an exploitation of someone else’s hard work; it is not constructive to its intent: helping the recipient prepare for a job, where drug tests are commonplace.

The goal for accountability of student truancy is to make sure parents are being responsible and ensuring their children attend school. As a society, we have made too many shifts toward believing that government or teachers are responsible for children rather than their parents.

I believe the American Dream is possible for every man, woman and child, but the cycle of dependency must be broken if that is to happen. The Free Press is free to paint these values as extreme, but they are not new and we need to return to them.

These values were around at the time of the founding of our country. Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty. ... On the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”